He is a qualified aeronautical engineer, and if it were not for Sekhar Kammula’s Life is Beautiful, Abijeet Duddala’s life would have taken off on a different tangent all together. Talking about his entry into films, Abijeet says, “I had finished college and wanted to take a year off. That was when I heard about Sekhar’s talent hunt and sent my application. I did not talk about it to anyone. In fact, my parents got to know that I was acting in the movie only after I got the contract and my friends and well-wishers got to know after the movie was launched.”
Breaking eggs!
The pucca Hyderabadi that he is, Abijeet reveals that his family does have a Charminar connect. Giving insights as to what went into the making of Hyderabad’s famous landmark, he says, “The Charminar got its pale yellow colour because the plaster was made of a mixture of bhindi, egg yolk, ghee, gawar ka patta (a sticky, juicy plant) and seepi (sea shells) that was left to ferment in deep water pits, before being crushed and mixed again along with the lime mortar,” shares Abijeet. Ask him how he knows it and he says, “My forefathers moved to Hyderabad in the late 1500’s as construction labourers who worked on the monument. Their job was to break the eggs and mix the yolk in the construction mixture.”
A fitness freak
Well, Abijeet is an actor today, but he still does what his forefathers did — breaks eggs — albeit for completely different reasons. “I have about 12 egg whites in a day as a part of my zero fat diet. But would have nothing to do with the yolk though,” he says joking. And the actor seems to be in a real hurry to take his shirt off. “Oh, I always had this ripped look even before getting into films. I had to lose 10 kilos to get into the look of the typical boy next door for Sekhar’s film,” he says. Admitting that he is a fitness enthusiast, he says, “I work out religiously for six days a week and I love it. As far as taking my shirt off goes, well, that might happen soon.”
Films in the pipeline
Abijeet, who is one-film old, says he has got some interesting films lined up. “I have got three films lined up. All I can say is that one is going to be a total commercial entertainer, the other a romantic comedy and another mainstream potboiler. They are all with debutant directors,” he explains.
The actor, who is keen on not getting typecast as the-boy-next-door, says, “Well I have a very massy side to me as well and would like to explore that on screen. In fact, I refused a lot of flicks that offered me typical good boy roles.”
Social side
Apart from films, Abijeet works for a city- based NGO that works to spread awareness about traffic regulations and pedestrian safety. “It’s something I am very passionate about. We work in tandem with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation in identifying high traffic density areas and coming up with innovative solutions. We were instrumental in getting a pedestrian island constructed at Jubilee Hills check post recently. In fact, last year on New Year’s eve I was at Jubilee Hills check post regulating traffic!”
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> Entertainment> Regional> Telugu / TNN / November 25th, 2012
